Rx: Would You Rather

The Disorder

Pharmaceutical companies want you to believe everything is a disorder and treatable with their drugs. Are you tired and gaining weight this winter? You might have SAD. Not the feeling of being sad but have a condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). There’s a pill for that even though an hour of exercise and sunlight has been proven to be more effective than most anti-depressants. Do you have asthma? If it’s not well controlled by a rescue inhaler, Symbicort might be for you. Cue fine print “This product may cause higher chances of dying from an asthma related death.” Have you ever had a blood clot? If so you might want to try Warfarin. It has the same active ingredient as rat poison. Don’t worry though; they’ll check your blood levels to make sure they don’t accidentally kill you.

The Drugs

Pharmaceuticals are necessary for many people, myself included. My medicine cabinet looks like I robbed Walgreens. What’s interesting though is the drug classification in this country. It measures both safety and efficacy of pharmaceuticals. Promethazine is a cough syrup. Codeine is the active ingredient. This drug is used to make what kids on the street call Lean. Codeine is a schedule 5 (V) narcotic. Schedule 5 (V) drugs are supposed to have medicinal value and the least potential of any narcotic for abuse. In contrast, Cannabis (weed) is a schedule 1 (I) narcotic with no recognized medicinal properties and high potential of abuse. Which one of these drugs kill the least amount of people per year? I think you know the answer.

The Danger

The sad thing about the opioid epidemic is that it’s not the opium derivative that kills people, it’s what it’s cut with. Vicodin and Percocet contain mostly Tylenol. We think of Tylenol as the safest drug out there. It can be used by pregnant women, infants and children. Yet, when taken in large amounts it’s toxic and will trash a person’s kidneys and liver. That’s how it goes though, isn’t it? People die from drugs not because of the active ingredient but because of what it’s cut with. Currently, the drug China White is killing people en mass because its heroine cut with Fentanyl. Want to know the difference between a doctor and a drug dealer? It’s whether or not a pharmacy is involved.